#OpenConversations #MakingLivedExperiencesMatter Saw this outside a school (or so I think). A sculpted tree trunk where branches were cut. A green parrot, large jackfruits attached to the trunk. It instantly brought back the old Malayalam tongue twister, “പച്ച താറ്റ ചക്ക കോതി തിന്നു” (Pacha tatta chakka kothi thinnu) , which would literally translate to nothing meaningful - A green parrot pecked and ate a jackfruit! Well… so? That would be the meaning-maker’s question. But as children, meanings didn’t matter. There was so much anticipation for our turn, that little nervous excitement of knowing it would be tough, that we might get it wrong, that we almost *would* get it wrong. Some of us even did it on purpose, just to make everyone laugh harder. The mistake WAS the celebration. The fumbling WAS the joy. We chased it because it was difficult. We’d all pretend to be confident, wait for our turn, attempt our line, and collapse into laughter halfway through. Everyone tripped, everyone laughed, and somehow that made it even better. There was no pressure to get it right. The fun was in getting it wrong, again and again. Learning, failing, making mistakes while attempting something absolutely meaningless, that was the joy of it. Those tongue twisters were our early lessons in rhythm, attention, breath, and the strange joy of failing in public without shame. Nobody called it “experiential learning” or “speech therapy.” We were just kids trying to make our tongues behave. Somewhere along the way, repetition got a bad name. Rote became the villain. Maybe that’s when learning started to lose its spark, when we decided that only things with obvious meaning were worth doing. But those silly drills and endless recitations built something deeper: steadiness, patience, courage to stumble and keep going without even knowing where it would get us. There was trust in the process; the result wasn’t the focus. Learning used to sound alive, noisy, full of mistakes, full of trying. Maybe it still can, if we stop trying to tidy it up. Here’s one for today, a twist for both tongue and thought: "PARROTS PRACTICED PLAYFUL PATTERNS, PROVING PRACTICE PAINTS PROGRESS." Try it fast. Trip a little. Laugh. That’s learning, still breathing, still real.
